Follow Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast Review: Not So Grotesque After All

Maybe my expectations for the Beauty and The Beastpilot were set too low based on all the early reviews calling it one of the worst premieres of the season, but I didn't think it was that bad.

In fact, I thought it was pretty good.

Beauty and The Beast is in The CW's sweet spot: beautiful people in ridiculous or supernatural (or both!) situations with sexy undertones and emotionally stirring music that makes you totally buy in to their world of questionable plots and lustful glances.

Vincent Keller, "The Beast," is part of an experimental military genetics program? And he's a scientific genius? AND he's hot 99% of the time except when his adrenaline kicks in? Yup, it's a CW show through and through. As long as you're aware of that tuning in, I see only good things in your future.

Quick disclaimer: I've never seen the original Beauty and The Beast TV show that aired back in the late 80's, so I'm not judging this "remake" by i's predecessor. Great. Moving on.

Jay Ryan, most recently seen in the ill-fated Terra Nova, does a great job filling that much beloved role of the brooding CW supernatural hunk. He's not at Ian Sommerhalder's level, but let's face it, no one is. His transformation into the beast (is it a proper noun? Should it be The Beast?) was a little goofy and reminded me of Twilight, which, for the record, is never a compliment.

Kirsten Kreuk of Smallville fame is more believable in her role as a detective than I thought possible. That fight scene on the subway platform was impressive, but I did think it was pretty funny that Vincent only saved her once she had beaten the bad guys mostly to death.

Ironically, the most ridiculous thing about the premiere wasn't the whole "Beauty and the Beast" plot but the "murder of the week" storyline. Using cosmetics to kill and frame people? It's just like the plot of Catwoman! Which, for the record, is also never a compliment.

Beauty and The Beast has the makings of a classic CW show. There's lots for the network's legions of die hard fans to love and lust after here.

Follow Beauty and the Beast

the whole point of beauty and the beast is that he is a beast and in this show he isnt. if the show had a different name and wasnt a remake of such a great show i could look over some the horribleness cause i love kristen kruek and would watch anything she is in but after this episode i'm done with the show. it wasnt just the beast aspect but the dialogue was kind of weak as well and yeah the two leads are beautiful but them falling for each other was way too quick. love is suppose to be deeper then that. it was better then i thought it would be but too much silliness for me to take it seriously or enjoy

TM•October 13, 2012 00:25

Just a pet peeve of mine is spelling actors' names wrong and it's 'Ian Somerhalder.'

Jade•October 13, 2012 00:20

CW is my guilty pleasure (love GG, TVD, Arrow), but I was not able to finish this episode. Worst premiere ever. Just an opinion.

What bothered me the most about the show is the Beast is not a beast. He doesn't stay in monster mode 24/7, most of the time he's the this amazingly kind doctor who is freaking hot. The moral of Beauty and the Beast (and almost if not every adaption has this one) is that Beauty isn't just skin deep and people that look beautiful on the outside could be the real monsters. The Beast does not have a bad personality nor is he ugly. That being said..I did like the show. Its flawed but at the same time I'm happy the female lead is not a damsel in distress (most of the time anyway) and can kick ass. So I am going to continue to watch the show even though it is flawed.

rai•October 12, 2012 15:06

I agree with Lindsey. I enjoyed it!

Mrs. M.•October 12, 2012 13:54

Guy? DroolingGirl? HotPlot? So cliche Sure, people find this new show ridiculus, but hey, those things sell. Sure, we are all going to say that we aren't going to watch it anymore, but I bet that most of you will just continue to watch it because one, the guy is hot and mysterious, and second, who isn't a fan of Kreuk? I was totally rooting for her and Clark in Smallville. Girl cop being saved by "the beast" is a very cliche since a lot of shows are quite similar (ex: Castle, Tarzan, hell, even the new show Arrow), but this plot is what makes us swoon. Theory: The mother was also working on that genetic experiment?

MickeyG123•October 12, 2012 13:44

Just watched it all the way through. The mystery was straight from The Closer season 1.

I don't think it was terrible but they could have given The Beast are more gruesome face, brought down the cheese factor a lil' and made it not seem so Castle-like. Her story is almost similar to Beckett and her mother.

Everyone told me it was just a coyote or a bear. This thing I thought I had seen was just a result of my concussion or post traumatic stress. No, the men who killed my mother were beasts. I believed them. Until now.